Monarchs Soccer Routs Visiting Jmu

NORFOLK — Calm and collected beat frazzled and losing it Saturday night as Old Dominion shut out James Madison 1-0 in CAA men's soccer at ODU Soccer Stadium.

Excessive physical play was a key feature of this match with numerous injuries taking place, plenty of talking and borderline wrestling. A total of 40 fouls were called and 12 cards were assessed, including three red cards.

"We tried to get word out on the field to really keep our composure and not get rattled," said ODU coach Alan Dawson. "It was a frantic game, certainly not a pretty game. I thought we played frantic in the first half and not particularly well.

"In the second half I asked that we settle down and possess the ball and I thought we did a much better job of that."

The Monarchs' game-winner came on Michael Tooley's spectacular launch from 15 yards out on the left side with 21:05 left to play, Tooley, a freshman from Richmond, collected a serve from teammate Anders Haugom at midfield to set up his goal.

"We've been making these runs, so now it's starting to get natural," Tooley said of his effort to get forward. "It was a great ball from Anders and everything just connected. It's a goal, it's a win."

The Monarchs kept the ball wide most of the game to try to avoid going over JMU's tall midfield corps.

ODU midfielder Carlos Mendes continued to be the midfield link between his team's speedy front line and capable backs. He said the group is much more comfortable now that they've played this many games together.

The Monarchs are 8-2, 4-0 in the CAA, and play at William and Mary Wednesday at 7 p.m. in a game with importance as far as local rivalry as well as CAA standings.

"Every game we grow as a team and as the wins come, you get more confidence too," Mendes said. "We saw Michael up there, he was basically in the right place at the right time. We got him the ball and he finished it.

"It was a beautiful goal."

JMU fell to 7-4-2, 1-2 in the conference, amid a flurry of yellow and red cards.

In addition to an assistant coach receiving a red card and being ejected from the stadium, two Dukes players were also red-carded. With 20:32 left, JMU received its second red card ejection and had to play two players down the rest of the game.

Jennifer L. Williams can be reached at 247-4644 or by e-mail at jwilliams@dailypress.com